Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!!It was a very special day. For starters, I got to sleep in until 8:30. I know this doesn't seem like a big deal but it's a whole extra hour! I didn't have to make breakfast, stayed in my pajamas until noon, then we went to my favorite restaurant "North!" We used to eat there all the time in Tucson, and low and behold, they have one in Leawood! So after our wonderful meal, I went home and took a short nap then played with Ava. We were too full from lunch to eat any dinner, so we just played at home the rest of the day. It was a very relaxing day. Ava is the most amazing little girl and I feel so lucky and so blessed to be her mother. Happy Mother's Day to our mom's, grandmother's, and our other mommy friends and family! We hope you enjoyed your day!

saturday @ the zoo

We took Ava to the Kansas City Zoo on Saturday. It was a little chilly but she really enjoyed hanging out in her wagon and seeing the animals. Her favorite animals this time were... the lions.. or "really big Lola's!" They were her favorite last year too!

checking out the lions sleeping!

I know you can't see it very well, but to the right of Ava's head, that's a hippo with it's mouth open.

baboons!

more funny faces!

Three things we know (of many, hehe):
1) There is never a dull moment when Ava is around.
2) She LOVES to have her picture taken.
3) Just when we think she can't get any cuter.. she does!

p'sketti

Tuesday night I fixed spaghetti. Ava wouldn't keep her bib on, nor would she let me feed it to her with a fork, nor would she feed herself with a fork. Instead, she looked in the bowl and went "ooooooooohhhhhhh!" so I stripped her down and let her have at it! As you can see, she had a pretty good time. She even managed to take a handful and throw it over her head, down to the living room below. Silly girl!

Girls weekend in Nixa/Springfield/Branson

This weekend Ava and I traveled to Nixa to see MeLeah and family and also my friend Catrina and family. On Friday, Mimi, MeLeah and I took the kids shopping in Branson then had a nice time playing at the Strain house. Saturday, we had more playtime then went to Silver Dollar City. Ava had SO much fun, as did Madison. Maddie was in to the "fast" rides, but she and Ava had fun riding together. Makenzie wasn't so interested in rides this time around. On Sunday, we headed over to my friend Catrina's house and played with her son, Maddux, who is two months older than Ava. We had such a FUN weekend!!!! Thank you to Clint and Brenda for having us, and also to Andy and Catrina for their hospitality. We hope you feel better Aunt MeLeah!!!!!

Ava and Maddux

Maddie and Mimi are at the very top of the picture!

latest and greatest!

here are a few of the latest and greatest.. enjoy!

my parents hosted a dinner in honor of our family friend Joe, who is a U.S. Marine and is being deployed to Afghanistan in the middle of May. Joe completed his training in Japan and his desert training in California. We are SO proud of you Joe! Thank you for serving our country!

(it's not open, she kept putting it in the dog bowl :))